


Lost at Daybreak

by BabyChocoboAlchemist



Category: Jak and Daxter
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, First Love, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, M/M, Male Homosexuality, Male Slash, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:48:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25601602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabyChocoboAlchemist/pseuds/BabyChocoboAlchemist
Summary: ”Why?”One of Jak’s ears bends in a show of confusion. He leans in towards Torn, eyes aglow with astonishment and something surprising: worry. “Why what?””Why? Why did you save me? You could’ve been killed.”Post Jak X: Combat Racing. Two years have passed since the Kras City adventures, and Jak finds himself in another adventure alongside not one, but two Ottsel companions. The adventure has Torn dragged into a vortex he’s only able to break out of with the little team’s help.The aftermath of that adventure sends his friendship with Torn into a completely unexpected, different direction.
Relationships: Daxter/Tess (Jak and Daxter), Jak & Torn (Jak and Daxter)
Kudos: 3





	Lost at Daybreak

**Author's Note:**

> Hello. Thank you for visiting my adventure. I hope you enjoy it, even a little bit!
> 
> Yes, I know this series is a thousand years old, but it WAS ported to the Playstation 4, and there are rumors of it being revived at a later point in time (unless the evil pirate overlords take over planet Earth and we don’t get that Jak and Daxter remake). So the ‘Jak’ series isn’t really THAT old, if you take those things into consideration.
> 
> This little piece came about because of several factors: I saw a video about the Jak and Daxter series by SuperButterBuns last night, I posted a Jak x Torn fanfic on Deviantart a thousand years ago, and I played the first two games on my PS2 a million years ago. I don’t know why I shipped Jak and Torn once upon a time, but now it’s because I’m a sucker for M/M ships and love pairing completely different characters together. Especially since these two characters have pretty fiery, sassy natures. Headcanons say that Jak and Torn take about a thousand years to admit they have feelings for each other, and another one hundred years pass before they have their first kiss. But their relationship develops into something phenomenally powerful, one no force can break.
> 
> This piece takes place after Jak X and has Torn abducted. Ashelin’s friend is tortured during his captivity, and is brought to the brink of death-right before Jak and his Ottsel friends rescue him. The events of this story are left entirely to your imagination. Whatever adventure you imagine Jak, Daxter and Tess going on after Jak X, you’re more than welcome to have it unfold. As for Jak and his Ottsel team-I was going to have Daxter ride off into the sunset with Tess, but couldn’t imagine him leaving behind his lifelong friend because of a relationship. So the two of them ride along on all of his adventures, in a brand-new knapsack. 
> 
> Enjoy, my dears, and please take care of yourselves.

_He looks for someone. Someone he knows he has to hold onto, for there is an immediate risk of losing them forever. Morning light spills through the windows of their headquarters as he treads quietly, secretly trying not to disturb the already-fragile peace that cradles the one he searches for. There, in a dimension in which time and memory is fragile, he searches for one that has been thoroughly broken. And it is that someone he means to put back together._

_His steps are all that can be heard. He steps quietly, slowly, towards the room that houses the one he seeks. Two Ottsel friends are in the knapsack settled at his side, one asleep, the one that’s been with him the longest wide awake, always ready to support the friend he’s probably known for a dozen lifetimes. Daxter is uncharacteristically quiet as they head towards a certain someone’s room, awaiting the future with bated breath, respecting the fragility of the uncertain path laid out before them. It is something he always does whenever Jak’s mind is fifty times too heavy, or whenever cataclysmic events leave no room for small talk. But knowing the first Ottsel to join him is always ready with a witty comeback, Jak heads closer to a certain room. They exchange a pensive glance before Jak settles his hand on the doorknob, ready to reveal the world that sleeps on the other side._

_The door slowly opens, revealing the room and its lone occupant. Ashelin made absolutely sure there would be no cause for alarm, no reason to believe his life was still in immediate danger, so Jak and his two passengers entered the room with quietly beating hearts. However, the air inside the room is still excruciatingly thick; Daxter grimaces upon realizing this. He soon turns his attention to the room’s original occupant, though, knowing that’s exactly where all of Jak’s attention is going. “How goes it, Dreadilocks?” he asks, his tone soft, worried. “You definitely look like you’ve had better days. Hopefully ol’ Sunshine and I can cheer you up a bit.”_

_Jak’s ears lower as he looks over the room’s original occupant. Daxter’s concern is not at all out of place; Torn’s been hurt, wounded from the inside-out. A shadow of his former self, he rests in the room’s lone bed, head bowed and spirit shattered. Now that all voices had fled the room, the air is even heavier with uncertainty, regret. Pain. Time to launch a counter-attack. Wildfire erupts in the pit of Jak’s stomach as Daxter bounds out of the knapsack and perches himself on his old friend’s shoulder._

_“Anything you need me to get you?”_

_Daxter winces over the look Torn gives them. It is one that proves he’s made of nothing more than paper, teetering on the edge between deafening insanity and silence, struggling to hold onto something that makes even a little bit of sense. It takes a moment for him to answer, but the answer he finally gives doesn’t provide a bit of relief._

_”I’m fine, thanks.”_

_Jak gives him a swift briefing on where they stand. Daxter remains on his shoulder and watches the morning unfold as his oldest friend paints a picture of struggle, triumphs and trials. It’s been two years since their last struggle, their last clash against overwhelming odds, but it feels as though they were just in Kras City last week. In their corner of the universe, there seems to be very little room or air to breathe. Memories and sunshine fill in the words he gently gives to the bed’s lone occupant, assuring him everything’s at a standstill right now, there’s nothing more to worry about, Ashelin is safe and so is the rest of Haven City. Torn remains silent for what feels like an eternity after their briefing, head remaining bowed, face unreadable, but then Jak takes note of something. Alarm flashes across his face before he turns to Daxter._

_”Dax. Would you and Tess mind going on guard duty for me? Just right outside the door? Would be great.”_

_”For you, Jak, we’d take on the world.” And with that, Jak’s long-time companion scurries off the marksman’s shoulder and back into the knapsack. He awakens Tess quickly but gently, gives her a quick briefing on the situation, and the two bolt towards the door. “Don’t you worry, ol’ buddy, ol’ pal,” Daxter beams at him, giving him a thumbs-up. “We’ve got it covered! Nobody’s gonna get past us. Not even a hundred yaks could make it past us! Take all the time you need.”_

_Jak silently thanks the two of them with a nod. The two Ottsels make their exit, merrily chatting about how wonderful the morning feels, after an unbearably long night, and how cute Tess thinks a certain pair of friends are together. Silence returns to the room once more, blanketing the earth in iron uncertainty. So many of Torn’s memories are wrapped up in bleeding silk, hurt, loss, including the older memories Jak has no hope of reaching. But there must be something he can do as the morning glow continues to spill into Torn’s room. He takes a seat at his friend’s bedside, eyes and tone firm._

_”All right. It’s just the two of us now. Nothing you say or do will make it out of this room. And before you ask, yes, even with Daxter standing right outside the door. Our lips are sealed. So whenever you’re ready, feel free to tell me what’s on your mind. I’m all ears.”_

_Torn’s head remains bowed. The piercing, witty comebacks he normally has on hand are absent, but his memories are spilling into the room, overwhelming each breath, every drop of sunshine that spills onto the floor. His ears slowly drop as memories storm his mind. For what must be an eternity, he remains silent, but then a hand is lifted over his heart._

_”Why?”_

_One of Jak’s ears bends in a show of confusion. He leans in towards Torn, eyes aglow with astonishment and something surprising: worry. “Why what?”_

_”Why? Why did you save me? You could’ve been killed.”_

_The marksman’s ears flatten. “If I had a gold coin for every time I’ve heard that, I could build an empire fifteen times bigger than Haven City. I appreciate the concern, Torn, but if you’re going to worry about me being killed, you’re honestly wasting your own time. That’s just a little something I deal with every time I open my eyes.”_

_The pain echoing throughout Torn’s voice cuts through Jak’s skin and strikes his bones. “Still pretty good at dodging questions, I see.”_

_”Yeah, I have a tendency to do that with questions that bore me. But I’ll let you off the hook, just this once. Wanna know why we saved you? Because we wanted to.”_

_Shock erupts on Torn’s face and lifts his ears. Jak waits as his friend mentally scrambles for a response, eyes darting across the room, hand clutching his heart. Another moment passes before Torn lowers his head again, and turns away from the other, clearly uncomfortable with saying anything more. For a wide variety of reasons. But Daxter’s friend quickly settles a hand on his shoulder with a soft ‘hey’, not saying anything more but not needing to, as that simple gesture and word spoke a thousand volumes. Torn gives him a look with sadness that strikes Jak’s veins and bones like an ax, ears lowering, clearly hesitant about saying anything but-_

_Ashelin’s friend lowers his head into Jak’s chest, trembling. Jak slowly brings him in for a hug, without complaint or question, remembering his first years in Haven City, remembering how Torn had just gone through something similar in just a few days. Not another word is shared between the two of them, but then again, no words are needed. Twenty minutes pass before the two Ottsels on the other side of the door become worried. Alerted by the silence pouring out of the room, Daxter and Tess exchange fretful glances, then rush back to the door._

_They re-enter the room, calling the names of their friends, but then Daxter gives Tess a gentle nudge in the ribs, pointing out how Jak and Torn are fast asleep._

Ashelin’s smile pierced the afternoon air with quiet, warm intensity. She faced her friends with cosmic warmth and mischief, content as the afternoon unfolded inside of the Naughty Ottsel. One of the very few afternoons that were able to unfold with very little event, so the quiet minutes falling off the clock were definitely appreciated. 

“Ready to go already? Sure you can’t stay a while?”

“You know how it is,” Tess beamed at her, popping her head out of Jak’s knapsack alongside Daxter. “Open roads, blue skies-they’ve all got our names on ‘em!”

Daxter buried a fist into the top of her head, glowing with blinding confidence in those open roads and blue skies. “And time waits for no one, Ashie! Besides, we brave adventurers aren’t getting any younger, you know. Gotta keep it moving! There’s still so many people I gotta introduce my beautiful little Tess to, you know? The open roads await!”

As yet another wrestling match unfolded inside of the custom-made knapsack, Torn’s old friend shook her head with a sigh. She had borne witness to their antics time and time again, but they never failed to surprise her. “I don’t know how you put up with it,” she told Jak, resting an elbow on the nearest counter.

His response was immediate. “I honestly don’t know how I put up with it either. It’s one of those things that just happens, and you deal with it. How’s Torn?”

Ah, Torn. She couldn’t suppress a small giggle, nor could she keep a flicker of mischief from rising into her eyes. “Much better, thanks to all of you. Sleeping, but that’s definitely _much better_ than what I told you earlier. Thanks, by the way, for paying him a visit. I know things have been pretty crazy lately. You and your crew must be _exhausted.”_

Memories painted the space between them, all of them alive with different shades of tension, electricity, chaos and the unknown. Years of wandering, wondering, exploring and unraveling came together in what felt like the blink of an eye, every last second of those years blazing through his mind with a god’s vengeance. “You know what they say-no rest for the best,” Jak said with a sigh, shoving the two wrestling, giggling Ottsels back into their bag. 

“Look. You know we’re going to be all over the place, but if you need to give us a ring, don’t let that stop you. If anything else happens to you or Torn-”

The young woman beside him laughed again, an even greater flare of mischief soaring through her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I hear you, loud and clear, Wonder Boy,” she assured him, pressing what appeared to be an envelope into the palm of his hand. “You’re too kind. Always have been. And before you go, take a look at this.”

“It’s from _Torn?”_ a visibly astonished Jak asked, ears raising, eyes widening slightly as he examined the envelope that was apparently from the strangest source known to creation. The friend sitting across from him nodded.

“Yep. Enjoy. It’s just a little something he wanted you to have before you and your little pals took off.”

Tess popped her head out of the knapsack again, glowing for reasons neither Jak or Ashelin wanted to probe into. “Open it up, Jak. Pretty please?”

Daxter’s tone had its usual cheekiness, but was fortunately warm. Compassionate. “Yeah, Sunny Boy, let’s see what our lovely Princess Dreadilocks has to say,” the first Ottsel to join the team chimed in, bounding back onto Jak’s shoulder. Tess followed suit, taking the other shoulder. Both of them peered at the letter as it was unfolded and read.

_Jak-_

_Thought writing this out would’ve been much better than me trying to put it together out loud._

_Thank you for staying with me. Stay safe._


End file.
